When Chili residents, Jackie and Vinnie Finn, traveled to Ireland with their two sons, Tom, 16 and John, 14, they were hoping to spend time with family and reconnect family ties. They never thought they would find a piece of their family that was thought to be lost. In August 2005, the Finns traveled to Ireland and visited with Vinnie’s family. They planned to spend time with family, discover how their Irish families live and travel throughout the country. Jackie said, “We didn’t want to do the typical tourist trip. We wanted a different view of Ireland, to discover how Irish families live.” Both Vinnie and Jackie are of Irish ancestry. Vinnie’s parents, Tess McArdle and William Finn, immigrated to America from Ireland in the early 1940s. They met and married in America and raised a family of nine children. In 1968, Vinnie’s mother passed away at the age of 39, Vinnie was only eight. His dad remarried and the Finn family grew to 12 children. Both Jackie’s maternal grandfather, Timothy Joseph Branigan and maternal grandmother, Margaret Sheridan, immigrated to America from Ireland in 1919. They came to America from the same town, Kilkenny in County Louth, Ireland and knew each other as children. Jackie’s paternal grandparents are also Irish immigrants. While in Ireland, the Finn family stayed in a home that is on the dairy farm in Dundalk, County Louth, where Vinnie’s mother grew up with her three brothers. Vinnie’s cousins now own and operate the dairy farm along with McArdle Transport and D.G. McArdle Transport. Vinnie and his sons worked on the dairy farm. Vinnie explained, “This was one of our more memorable adventures, milking cows with our cousins.” Vinnie’s sister, Tara Finn Murphy, lives in Dublin, Ireland, with her husband, Joe Murphy, a chemist at Trinity College in Dublin. The Finns traveled to Dublin to spend time with Tara. Vinnie explained that “driving in Ireland is only for the brave and those who enjoy the adrenaline rush.” (The city of Dublin contains mostly one way streets and many Irish roads are not marked.) While a good portion of their time in Ireland was spent visiting family, the Finns adventured throughout the country to visit Irish historical landmarks. Before the Finns left for their trip, Jackie packed two photos from 1919 of her maternal grandparents who were from Kilkenny, Ireland. She hoped to find this side of her family. During their travels, the Finns stopped to see Kilkenny Castle. As they drove through the town of Kilkenny looking for a parking spot, Vinnie noticed a girl sitting on a stone fence. He encouraged Jackie to take of photo of the young girl. Vinnie said, “The girl was beautiful and she captured the essence of Ireland in her face.” The Finns continued to explore the town of Kilkenny and stopped by an antique shop. As Jackie was speaking to the shop owner, she showed the shop owner the photos of her grandparents, asking if the owner knew of the Branigan family. Since her grandparents had left Ireland in 1919 and never returned, Jackie had slim hopes of discovering any family, but was overjoyed when the owner explained that the town was “full of Brannigans.” (Jackie’s grandfather spelled his name as Branigan. The family in Ireland spells Brannigan with three n’s. Jackie thinks, the second “n” was lost in the trip to America.) The Kilkenny town historian was walking by the store at the same time and the shop owner called him in to give more details to the Finns. He looked at the photos, looked at the Finns and said, “The Brannigan’s live up the street. Would you like to meet them?” Jackie explained, “He turned, walked out the door and up the street, and knocked on the front door of this home.” Not knowing what to expect, the Finns followed and as a woman opened the door, Vinnie whispered to Jackie, “She looks like your mother and her sisters.” The historian handed the woman the photos, introduced the Finns and left them alone together. The woman, Una Brannigan Thorton, turned out to be Jackie’s second cousin. She invited them into her home, took one look at the photos and said, “We wondered what happened to Tim Joe Branigan.” Jackie explained that when her grandfather left Ireland in 1919, he never returned. Una called her sister, Bridie Brannigan, on the telephone and handed the phone to Jackie. While Jackie was on the phone, Bridie told Jackie, “Turn and look at the photos in the parlor. Those are your great-grandparents.” Many other family details were uncovered during their visit and continue to be discovered each time Jackie, Una and Bridie exchange e-mail and phone calls. Vinnie knew that a family connection was made the instant that Una Brannigan’s door opened. “Not only was there a family resemblance, but as I looked around her home I could see the home was filled with books, photos and family history, like our own home. Jackie and Una have so many things in common; it was great to discover this lost family,” he explained. As the Finns left Una and Bridie Brannigan, Una explained the Brannigan family all live on one street. “You have a whole streetful of family,” she said. This was the same street on which the Finns drove into town. And the young girl sitting on the fence whose picture Vinnie wanted Jackie to take? She is Jackie’s third cousin. The Finns learned lifetime lessons during their summer trip. Tom and John are still in amazement of their discoveries. “It was pretty cool that we found our relatives. Ireland is a pretty big country,” John said. Tom loved the Irish hospitality that was shown to them wherever they traveled, “We ate like 12 times per day. People were always feeding us,” Tom said. Jackie and Vinnie both agree with their sons. “The people are unbelievable. The historian in Kilkenny was an angel. To do something as nice as connecting us with our family and then to walk away without saying another word was unbelievable,” Jackie said. The Finn family plans to travel to Ireland again. The boys, John and Tom, were offered summer jobs working for McArdle Transport traveling around Europe. Jackie continues to communicate with her cousins, Una and Bridie Branningan. Vinnie e-mails and speaks to his McArdle cousins and his sister Tara, often. Jackie described the trip as emotional. “We stumbled upon my family by taking a chance and walking into that Kilkenny antique store. I never thought I had family left in Ireland. I thought they all had come to America,” she said. This trip has created a curiosity to discover other lost family. According to Jackie, “The next trip will be to discover my father’s family, Sarah Troy and Hugh Rush.” March 12, 2006 |
